San Jose State community members have mixed opinions about rent control after Proposition 21 failed to pass in the election.
The proposition would have expanded local government’s authority to enact price maximums landlords charge tenants for units more than 15 years old.
SJSU political science senior Lawrence Deng said he voted in favor of Proposition 21. Deng said he knows renters in the Bay Area who have disputes with their landlords over rent increases and believes the proposition could have helped.
“I felt bad for those who really wanted [Proposition 21] to pass,” Deng said over the phone. “When you look at rent control, people are worried about issues with their landlords.”
Proposition 21 would have also repealed the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, according to Ballotpedia.
Ballotpedia is a digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections, according to its website.
The state law protects a landlord’s right to raise a unit’s rent, prevents cities from establishing rent control and exempts single-family residences from rent control restrictions, according to Costa-Hawkins.com, a website that provides information about the act.
Proposition 21 failed to pass with 59.86% of Californians voting no, according to the California Secretary of State website. The results of the election will be officially certified by Dec. 11.
In Santa Clara County, 57% of eligible voters said no and 43% said yes on the proposition, according to the county’s general election website.
Alameda and San Francisco counties were the only state counties whose residents voted in favor of Proposition 21, according to The New York Times’ coverage of the California Election Results.
YesonProp21, a Los Angeles organization that supports the proposition, stated on its website repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995 would allow cities to stabilize rent increases and provide people with affordable long-term housing.
Deng wanted Proposition 21 to pass because he thought it could alleviate homelessness in the Bay Area.
“I voted yes [on Proposition 21] . . . [one of the reasons] is because homelessness is a major issue here in Silicon Valley, it's one of the priciest places to live,” Deng said.
Victor Vasquez, a 2017-20 SJSU Chicana and Chicano Studies lecturer, is the director of organizing and policy for SOMOS Mayfair. SOMOS Mayfair is an organization that supports low-income families living in the Mayfair neighborhood, a primarily working-class and immigrant community in East San Jose.
Vasquez said many SOMOS Mayfair members are residents impacted by San Jose’s high rent and face potential eviction.
“An increase in rent could mean displacement, could mean a family living and attending their car, couch surfing,” Vasquez said over the phone. “It’s not about rent control, but it's also about our communities being compassionate towards working people and working families.”
He said the organization supported local authority over rent control and its members created workshops in the months before the election to educate the community on the advantages of Prop. 21.
“We want to change the narrative of ‘rent control is a bad thing’ because it's not,” Vasquez said. “It's keeping people in their homes, making sure everyone has a roof over their heads.”
NoOn21, a Proposition 21 opponent organization, states on its website that the proposition would have discouraged new housing construction and reduced the availability of affordable housing.
SJSU political science professor Matthew Record researches housing policies and said Proposition 21 is ineffective because it does not solve the Bay Area’s housing shortage, which is primarily why the city has high homeless rates and housing costs.
“[Proposition 21] doesn't solve the underlying problem that causes rent to be so high in the first place . . . it's a housing supply issue,” Record said over the phone.
He said voters should advocate for propositions that would create more housing in the Bay Area.
“People can try to control the price of housing as much as [they] want, but nothing is going to stabilize it other than having a housing supply that matches the demands in the Bay Area,” Record said.
